Ex-Raiders, Jets Safety Burgess Owens Wins Republican Primary for US House Seat

The Associated Press declared former NFL safety Burgess Owens the victor in the Republican primary for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Utah's fourth congressional district Wednesday.

The state of Utah has tallied 34,090 votes (43.53 percent of the popular vote) for Owens, with Kim Coleman in second with 18,675 votes (23.85 percent). Coleman announced Wednesday she was conceding the race:

Owens will now challenge the incumbent, Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams, in the November elections.

The 68-year-old spent 10 seasons in the NFL. Seven of those years came with the New York Jets, and he ended his career with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He was a member of the Raiders team in 1980 that went on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.

Speaking with JetsCountry's Kristian Dyer in June, Owens said he'll avoid tuning in to NFL games if the protest movement sparked by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues.

"If [NFL Commissioner Roger] Goodell allows Kaepernick to come back, if they allow players to kneel during the national anthem, I'm willing to not watch the game," he said. "The only thing that can change the league is to change commissioners. This has been going on way too long, it is four years of this mess."